Blood vessels surround and permeate organs and diseased tissue in organisms that have vascular systems. It has been determined that blood vessels in the same anatomical regions of similar individuals may have similar attributes. The terms “blood vessel attribute,” “vascular attribute,” and “attribute” are used interchangeably herein to refer to any quantifiable characteristic of a blood vessel or group of blood vessels by which vessel populations can be compared. Examples of blood vessel attributes include blood vessel density, number of blood vessels, blood vessel radius, irregularity of blood vessel radius, branching frequency, tortuosity, length, direction, permeability, or any other shape or functional measure that can be defined for an individual vessel or group of vessels. For example, vascular density may be similar in the same anatomical regions in healthy individuals. It has also been determined that individuals who are prognostically different from individuals in a given population may have different vascular attributes either globally or within one or more anatomical regions. For example, patients having malignant tumors have been determined to have abnormally tortuous vessels in the anatomical region corresponding to the tumor. Thus, it may be desirable to compare vascular attributes among different individuals for purposes of disease diagnosis, disease staging, and surgical planning.
One problem with analyzing and comparing vessel attributes of different individuals is that vessel structure and corresponding tissue structure vary, even in the same anatomical region of members of the same (e.g., healthy or sick) population. In order to determine average vessel attributes among members of a population, it is necessary to measure corresponding vessel attributes in different individuals. However, because of the differences in vessel structure among members of the same population, establishing correspondence can be computationally intensive. In some cases, establishing exact correspondence based on blood vessel image data alone is impossible.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved systems, methods, and computer program products for analyzing vessel attributes for diagnosis, disease staging, and surgical planning. There also exists a need for methods, systems, and computer program products for making corresponding blood vessel attribute measurements among members of a population.